May 24 - First hike into the Grand Canyon

Susan and I picked a short, sharp, and popular trail for our first hike - Bright Angel Trail.  Back before the Grand Canyon was a national park, Ralph Cameron charged a $1.00 toll to hike down. (Cameron filed fake mining claims in order to "legitimize" his toll. When those claims were thrown out, he had his friends file claims so he could keep charging the toll. The fight was many years in court and Grand Canyon was brought into the national park system before the Bright Angel Trail was finally opened to all for free.)

Hiked down to Mile and a Half House where there is water and shelter.  Dropped 1100 feet in 1.5 miles. This was the middle of the day, so there were just a few spots of shade. And those were sooooo welcome and needed!


Next time, Three Mile House for sure...and definitely starting earlier.  That's another 1100 foot drop in 1.5 miles.


This is dropping from the Kaibab Plateau towards the Colorado River.  Kaibab is Native American for "mountain turned upside down."  And that's exactly what this hiking is. We stopped at Mile and a Half House for water, some snacks, and shelter from the sun.  What an incredible view!

That green area in the picture below is a riparian zone called Indian Gardens. It's another 3 miles away and 2000 feet below us.  Indian Gardens has camping and (obviously) water, always an important consideration when hiking in the Grand Canyon.

The pictures below show how sharp and sheer the canyon walls are as we headed down the Bright Angel Trail.  View on the left side and right side of the trail.  

And mules always have the right of way on the trail.  

There is an even steeper section of the trail called Heartbreak Hill.  You can see the mules have stopped there for a rest.  

Looking up at the canyon rim - Kaibab Limestone - 230 million years old.

As we started heading back up from Mile and a Half House, the trail gets very dusty.  The mules pound (more like pulverize) the trail every day - rain or shine.  

Down is optional; up is mandatory.  

We also had our first day off together on Tuesday, going to Flagstaff for "supplies."  Flag is about an hour and a half away but I needed a haircut and we needed some groceries.